Ex-communist Europe

Slovakia and Hungary

Fun run

SLOVAKIA'S new government has lost no time in getting relations with Hungary back on track. The foreign minister (and former prime minister) Mikuláš Dzurinda took part in the 25th Budapest Marathon on September 26th, finishing in a creditable 3.26 hours, and cheered by locals. He continues his stay in Budapest with more meetings, including with his opposite number János Martonyi, President Pál Schmitt and the prime minister Viktor Orbán.

That highlights an overdue thaw. The Slovak government has just approved amendments to the controversial language law, which criminalised the use of Hungarian in some circumstances. The main change is that fines for individuals have been scrapped.

It will be interesting to see how Hungary reciprocates. Mr Orbán has assured neighbouring countries that Hungary's new citizenship law will not be a pretext for "mass recruitment" among ethnic Magyars outside Hungary's frontiers. But speaking in New York, President Schmitt told representatives of the diaspora there: "The most important thing is to think in terms of the nation. There are not only 10 million of us but 15 million". After five years of escalating mistrust, it will take a bit of time for nerves to be unjangled. But Hungary's six-month presidency of the European Union, starting in January, will be more effective if the two countries' journey back to normality is a sprint not a marathon.